


Reluctant Heroes

by SpicyReyes



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Eren Is a Fritz, F/F, F/M, Graphic Descriptions of Violence tag is REAL, Listen for AOT that is an ACCOMPLISHMENT, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Older Eren Yeager, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, possibly the darkest thing ive written as of yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:15:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24690643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyReyes/pseuds/SpicyReyes
Summary: When Grisha Yeager and his wife are sent to their deaths, an ally steps in - and, knowing better than to leave him alone in a country that hates him, makes sure to also smuggle out Grisha's two year old son.The Yeagers begin a life inside the walls...and a few extra years and a drop of royal blood make all the difference.
Relationships: Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Levi/Eren Yeager, Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, others TBA
Comments: 34
Kudos: 260
Collections: Attack on Titan bests, Fics to Live For (In BrytteM's Opinion)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (gestures at AOT) you couldnt let me read this and NOT write a fix it  
> also there's canon explanations of time travel so like. be prepared, that's probably next  
> eren/levi is significantly in the future so dont expect it to be anytime soon lmao the timeline of this fic is not as far ahead of canon as this chapter is, there is going to be a lot of plot in between 'story begins' and 'we can have those character arcs now'  
> warning! this fic is gonna be like....exactly as brutal as the show except not MAJOR character death because I don't hate myself?? actually???  
> So like..........the important thing is Marco lives

Keith blinked, staring down off the wall. 

He was seeing things. That was the only explanation - titans weren’t that small, for one. For another, they didn’t wear _clothes._

And they definitely, absolutely, under _no_ circumstances, held things in their arms, while running for their life.

Movement drew his eye upward, and at the sight of a far-distant titan, instinct took over. Before he could reason to himself that it was a ridiculous thing to do, he’d turned his maneuvering gear and launched himself over the ledge of the wall, rappelling down its full height. 

He dropped onto the ground in front of the man, straightening up with his mouth already open to question him-

-Only to freeze, immediately, left gaping the bundle the man was holding.

That...was a _child._

“Oh, good,” the man breathed. “Please, help me - I- I’ve lost my memory, I don’t know how I got out here, but I need to get my son to safety.” 

“You- you don’t _remember_ how you got _outside the gates?”_ Keith asked, incredulous. 

“I don’t,” the man insisted. “I just - I’ve been out here-...”

Keith took a hasty step back. 

He had many, _many_ questions...but even he could prioritize. 

“Come with me,” he said. “I’ll get you two inside, and then we’ll talk.” 

  
  
  
  
  


The child, it turned out, was two years old, and named Eren. 

This information was relinquished by the man - who revealed himself named Grisha Yaeger - in the sort of hesitant tone that made Keith feel almost as though the man had made it up on the spot. 

It didn’t matter, though - within short enough time, he’d established himself as a rather respectable doctor, and he settled down with a girl in town, and-

-And then, there were the Ackermans. 

A killer at fourteen, they all said - a boy with unexpected ruthlessness. Everyone wondered where it came from, how the son of two gentle people was so unhinged. 

Many wondered, but few _knew -_ knew that Eren was not born to Carla, but came from much more suspicious circumstances. 

Keith wondered, when the rumor reached him, if the wasteland beyond the gate had sunk into the child - if being in the air of violence and death at such a young age had sunk its claws into him, turning him into something inhuman. 

The next morning, he turned in his resignation. 

  
  
  
  


“How?”

Mikasa stopped, looking up, at where her older brother had been stooped over in the grass. “What?”

“I am _five_ years older than you,” Eren told her. “How are you so much better at this than me?” 

She gave him an unimpressed look. “Because you’re slow.” She shouldered her collected firewood, waiting for him to do the same. 

Eren sighed, picking his own up. He actually ended up with a bit more than Mikasa, but considering she was a _ten year old girl,_ he wasn’t really satisfied with that. 

She was right, though - he was way too slow at stuff like that. Tedious chores for Mikasa were a simple task she simply performed without needing to think about it, but Eren had the bad tendency to mentally check out if the thing he was up to wasn’t engaging. 

It didn’t help that the Survey Corps had left the city two days prior, and were expected to return at any time with their new intel. 

He kept casting glances toward the gates, just waiting. 

When he thought about the walls, he always had this... _feeling._ This strange echo of a memory he couldn’t quite grasp, the distant knowledge of what it felt to be free, this _longing_ to see what was beyond the stone.

Every few days, the impulse struck him to enlist in the military, to join the Survey Corps and find out what the world was really like. 

He always stopped short, though. As much as he _wanted,_ as desperate as he was to see beyond the cage they’d grown up in, he couldn’t. 

He couldn’t just leave. He couldn’t abandon his sister. 

She’d lost too much, already. It was Eren’s fault she’d ever picked up that knife, his own mistake that caused her to have to fight for her own life. He couldn’t turn around and make her do it again, leave her to fend for herself while he wandered off to his own potential death. 

If he walked out that gate, odds were heavily stacked against him coming back in them again. 

He wouldn’t leave Mikasa by herself. 

“Eren! Mikasa!” 

Eren looked up, shaken from his musings, to see Hannes standing in a nearby archway. 

Pink-faced and stinking, too. 

“Are you drunk?” Eren demanded, immediately, not sparing a second for greetings. “Can you fight like that?”

“Who are we fighting?” one of the other soldiers asked - drunkenly, just the same, to no surprise. “There a pickpocket running around or something?” 

_“Titans,”_ Eren snapped.

The soldiers all erupted into laughter. 

“It’s not _funny,”_ he said. “If they breached the wall-...”

“Then we’d be flat dead, probably,” Hannes said. “But they’re not gonna do that, kid. They haven’t done that in a hundred years. The walls are fifty meters high, and a high powered canon could barely scratch them. We’re fine.” 

“But if we _aren’t,”_ Eren said, _that_ feeling crawling back into him - the sort of indignant anger that came with its own, specialized anxiety, a buzzing under his skin that told him he _wasn’t_ overreacting, that he was justified in feeling angry, because the thing that pissed him off was _wrong._

It was always worst in cases of the wall. Eren didn’t trust that wall anymore than he liked the idea of it.

Everytime he looked at it, he couldn’t help but feel it was little more than a curtain - only protecting the inside as long as what was _outside_ didn’t decide it _wanted_ in.

“Well, then, you can feel free to tell me you warned me,” Hannes said. “But, at the end of the day - as long as we’re just a few freeloaders, things are going pretty good.” 

Eren opened his mouth to argue more, but stopped again as he was cut off by the distant sound of ringing bells. 

“They’re back!” he shouted, instantly turning on his heel, rushing down the road, heading for the gate. He could hear Mikasa taking off after him, and he shot a grin sideways at her.

This was the first major recon expedition under the direction of the new Commander, and the mood when they reached the gates was anxious, everyone terrified to know which way the mission had gone. 

There was absolutely no way they’d be able to push to the front of the crowd, so Eren shrugged off his wood pack, extending a hand out to Mikasa. “Get on my back,” he told her. “So you can see.”

She shot him a cool look that told him roughly what she thought of that, and then she turned to the side, climbing up on a stack of discarded produce crates beside one of the buildings. 

She was only about an inch above his eye level, but they would both be able to see, at least, and Eren wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally unseating her if he moved around too much. 

He tried not to dwell on the fact that him being slower than her extended into _most_ aspects of their life. 

The gate drew his attention as it was slowly raised, and soon, horses and carts emerged from the space. 

“How many is that?” Eren asked, scanning the crowd. “How many came back?” 

“....Half,” Mikasa said, squinting out at them. “Maybe a little more?”

Eren’s heart fell, a bit of his excitement dying out at the reminder of just how dangerous the job they were doing was. He’d hoped that the new commander would turn things around-...and, well, above a fifty percent survival rate _was_ an improvement, but it was hardly celebratory. 

“What a waste,” someone muttered, ahead of them. “They took over a hundred people, didn’t they? What’s left? Sixty? We just pay taxes to fatten them up.” 

Eren scowled, reaching sideways, groping for his pack, only to feel tiny, bony fingers catch his wrist.

He looked back to Mikasa. “They-...”

“I know,” she said, and then turned, heading off through the alley behind them, dragging Eren along by the wrist.

“Hey!” he protested, scooping up his pack with his free hand and hurrying his pace a bit to fall into step beside her, instead. “You remember I’m older than you, right?”

“No,” she said, flatly. 

Eren huffed, working his pack back onto his shoulders. “They’re getting closer, though, aren’t they?” he asked, thinking back to the soldiers. “One day, they’ll know enough to win.” 

“What’s a win?” Mikasa asked, voice dull. “They won if they lived.” 

“Just survival isn’t enough,” Eren protested. 

“It’s enough,” she argued. “If you can’t have anything else, you can live. If you can’t live, you can’t have anything else.” 

Eren huffed again, but dropped it - Mikasa had a very pessimistic outlook on life, generally, and he couldn’t really fight it when he was pretty sure _he’d_ given it to her. 

  
  
  
  


“Eren wants to join the Survey Corps.” 

Eren turned wide, betrayed eyes on his sister. “Mikasa!” he cried. “Why would you-...”

 _“No,”_ his mother said, firmly. “The Survey Corps- that’s _suicide,_ Eren, you absolutely can’t do that. Grisha-...?”

Grisha, however, looked much calmer. “If you wanted to join,” he asked, “why haven’t you mentioned it sooner? You’re of age to enlist.”

“Grisha!” Carla exclaimed, sounding more betrayed than Eren had felt, which was saying a _lot._ “He can’t!”

“I have to-..” He started to say, then stopped.

If he said _protect Mikasa,_ she would never forgive him for it. 

“I have things to do here,” he said. “And- and I never really decided for certain. I just…”

Grisha gave him a knowing look. “You want to see what is outside?”

“Yeah,” Eren said. “I don’t- I don’t want to live as _cattle_ for my entire life, and just be content with that.”

“Hn,” Grisha sat back in his chair a second. “I guess you’re old enough.”

_“Grisha!”_

“Not to enlist,” Grisha said. He reached up, to his neck, grabbing the key that hung around it and lifting it up. “I have to leave to see to a client elsewhere, but when I get back, I need to show you what it is I keep in the basement.” 

Eren’s eyes widened, a spark of excitement shooting through him again. “Really?” 

“It’s important you know,” Grisha said, moving to stand. “Especially if you want to go outside. If you want to know what’s out there… Best you go prepared.” 

“Grisha, stay,” Carla begged. _“Talk_ to him, tell him this is crazy.”

“He has to make the choices he makes,” Grisha said. “Just wait to make them, for now. I’ll show you everything when I get back.” 

And he left. 

Thrilled with the new turn of events, Eren hopped to his feet, following him out to wave goodbye. 

“See you when you get back!” he called. Mikasa emerged at his elbow, and he looked down at her, freezing at the measured expression on her face. 

“You wanted him to stop me,” he realized. 

“He should have!” Carla said, joining them on the step. “And hopefully, he _will._ It’s insane to want to leave the walls.”

“What’s _insane_ is being content as livestock, being raised for titan food and nothing else,” Eren snapped back, then turned on his heel, stalking off. 

Behind him, Carla sighed, looking to Mikasa. “Remind him he has things to stay alive for, Mikasa,” she pleaded, softly. “Don’t let him forget.” 

Mikasa gave a single, sharp nod.

She had no intention of doing any less.

  
  
  
  
  


Finding Armin in the city was just a matter of wandering backroads until you heard someone yelling.

“Hey, you little shits!” Eren yelled, stalking toward the kids who had Armin back against the wall. 

“That guy again?” one of them asked. 

“You!” the other called out. “Come fight, then, asshole, I’m not scared of-...”

He stopped short.

“Run,” he breathed, and he and his friend both turned on their heel, taking off full speed in the other direction.

“Ha,” Eren laughed, coming to a stop beside Armin. “They ran away from me.”

“No,” Armin said, pointing past him. “They ran away from Mikasa.”

Eren blinked, and turned, watching his sister stroll to a stop beside them. “You followed me?”

She gave him an unimpressed look in response - a silent, _duh._

They moved as a group, from there, walking together down the streets, heading back in the general direction of Armin’s house. 

They walked Armin home a lot - partially because a fifteen year old was a great bodyguard for a kid constantly being shoved into the dirt for his opinions, partially because Mikasa was a _better_ bodyguard, and partially because the kid was actually really smart and cool to talk to, and Eren personally considered him a friend. 

He didn’t really like that his two greatest companions in the world were only _ten,_ but it was less to do with mental maturity - they had that in spades - and more to do with the fact that he was always painfully aware of what a bad influence he probably was on younger kids. 

He was also fast approaching time where he’d need to take a job, and every time he flipped through one of his dad’s medical books in search of some secret that would spark his interest, he was struck with the horrible fear that he would end up throwing his lot in with something stupid just so that he wouldn’t have to leave them behind.

He loved them, but he _had_ to see something else in his life. Humanity couldn’t simply-...

“What…?”

Eren came to a stop, frowning down at Armin, who was gaping into the distance. Mikasa, when he looked, was wide-eyed as well, and though her scarf covered the lower half of her face, she looked shell-shocked.

Unsettled, Eren turned, following their gaze, looking over a crowd of others, all similarly stopped -

And his heart seized. 

Exposed muscle surrounded wide, peering eyes, hovering just over the wall, _watching._

That...was a titan. 

He watched as though in slow motion as the crowd around him reacted, it moving like a wave through the gathered citizens - screams, turning around, running for their lives -

And, finally, the sound rushed back into his ears, and heard the wind rushing as a chunk of the wall flew inward, shooting off into the city, as the massive titan kicked in the wall. 

“...Mom,” Eren breathed. “Mom! That’s our house, Mikasa - we have to-...”

He didn’t think any further, just took off. He could hear Armin protesting behind him, but he couldn’t make out any words over the pounding of his own heartbeat. 

_It’s still there,_ he told himself, firmly. _When I get around this corner, my house is still there._

It was there, alright. 

There, but collapsed, smashed through the middle by the chunk of wall debris.

Sticking out the side of the house, he could see his mother.

“Mom!” Eren cried, running forward. He hit his knees in front of her, clawing out at the beams that laid across her. “Mom, we’ll get you out- Mikasa, help me-..”

Mikasa dropped down beside him, pulling at the rubble as well, digging gaps for them to get their fingers into to lift. 

“Eren,” Carla cried, reaching with the arm free of the rubble to grab at his wrist. “Stop, run away. The rubble crushed my legs - even if you get me out, I can’t run.”

“I’ll carry you,” Eren said, without hesitation. “I won’t leave you.”

“You, you have to get out of here,” Carla insisted. “You’ll just be killed with me.”

“You aren’t dying here!” Eren insisted, tears streaking his face as he clawed all the more desperately at the ruin of his home. “I won’t-..”

“Save Mikasa!” Carla cried, grip bruising around his wrist. “Get her away from this!”

Screams sounded, very nearby, and Eren spared a glance in their direction - only to freeze, blood running cold, at the sight of heads looming over the rooftops, misshapen and grinning, bony and grotesque hands rising into view-...

...Bodies, trapped inside them.

Eren yanked his eyes away, back to his mother, and he pulled all the more frantically at the main beam pinning her down. 

It refused to lift more than a fraction, and Eren scowled in frustration, looking up quickly to check the distance of the titans. 

They were far, _far_ too close.

“Eren, baby, please,” Carla sobbed. “Don’t die here. Don’t let her die here, either. _Go.”_

“Mikasa, run,” Eren said, shifting to try and get a better grip. “I’ll catch up when I’ve got her, but you need to-...”

“No,” Mikasa said, sharply.

“Mikasa, we don’t have time for this,” Eren breathed. “You have to _go.”_

“Only if you come too,” Mikasa insisted. 

“Mikasa!”

“Eren!” Carla cried. 

“Carla!”

Eren turned, looking over his shoulder, watching Hannes come tearing around the corner.

“Hannes!” he called, desperately. “Help me lift this! We have to get her-...”

“In a second,” Hannes said, reaching for his blades. “I’ll get this titan, and save all three of you.”

Eren looked, horrified, and found what Hannes was referring to - a titan had entered the mouth of their street, weaving its way through the crumbled houses to come their way. 

“Don’t!” Carla cried. “Take them, get them out of here! Leave me and _go!”_

Hannes ran straight past them, in the direction of the titan. 

“Don’t!” 

For a second, Eren thought he’d listened. He came to an abrupt stop, in the street, head tipped back, eyes locked on the titan.

“Hannes, _please!”_

Hannes turned...and ran, back their way. 

“Help me!” Eren plead.

Instead, Hannes reached down, grabbing him around the middle, throwing him over one shoulder. 

“No!” Eren cried, struggling wildly, forcing Hannes to wrap both arms around his waist to hold him up.

“Mikasa, can you run?” Hannes asked, sharply. 

“I can,” she said, hopping quickly to her feet.

“Bless you,” Carla breathed. “Get them to safety, please.” 

“I will,” Hannes promised her. “Mikasa-...”

She nodded, taking off down the street. 

Holding a still wildly struggling Eren, Hannes followed. 

“No!” Eren screamed, as they got further away. In the midst of the rubble, he could see his mother collapse, hand over her mouth, sobbing against the dirt. “Mom! _Mom!”_

The scream echoed through the street. The titan, mere feet away from his house, stopped, looking up, eyes locking on him.

He froze, unable to keep fighting, unable to do _anything_ but _stare-..._

-As the titan blinked, slowly, and turned away, dismissing him in favor of the much more readily available meal. 

“MOM!”

It scooped her from the ruins. 

_“MOM!”_

  
  


And it was over.

  
  
  
  


Wall Maria fell. 

It happened before anyone could even properly react, and soon, a handful of survivors were cramming themselves into the space inside the other walls, penned into refugee camps - Eren’s comparison of them to cattle became all the more true as they were herded about, the government constantly seeking a way to alleviate the strain on their resources.

Their solution was a culling - sending most of the refugees on a mission that _claimed_ to be to retake the wall.

Everyone knew what it really was. Nobody said goodbye to someone who was drafted to the mission with the expectation that they would return. 

Mikasa left red marks in his arms where her nails had sunk in, as she fought to make him stay.

“Look after her, Armin,” Eren told their friend.

The boy gave a firm, solemn nod, eyes streaming steady tears - he was losing a lot of family all at once.

  
  
  
  


“This is fucking stupid.” 

Eren looked to the side, at the man sitting next to him in their wagon.

“They could at least pretend to be trying,” the man said. “Give us a weapon, for fuck’s sake.” 

_“What_ weapon?” a woman across the cart snapped. “3DM gear? We don’t know how to use it, and it would just be crushed with us. Guns? Knives? The fuck are those against a titan?”

“It’s a numbers game,” another person said - they were harder to identify on sight, more so with the massive bottle-lense glasses taking up most of their face. “The idea is that there are too many of us to eat, so some of us make the wall.” 

“And do what?” the woman demanded. “Plug it up? With _what?_

The other person looked away. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she said. “Fucking great. I hope this takes the strain off the others - and I hope they remember who they sent to die. If my son goes hungry after this, with what I’m going to do-...”

“You might live,” Eren said.

She looked at him, incredulous, and almost enraged, only for that to melt away instantly when her eyes landed on him. 

“Kid,” she breathed. “Goddesses, how old are you?”

“...Fifteen,” Eren admitted, hesitantly. 

The woman scowled, rage twisting her face again, though her wet eyes told him the anger wasn’t directed at _him._ “These bastards,” she snarled. “Old folks, who are the biggest strain, and a few good fighters for show, sure - but a fucking _kid?”_

“Better it was me,” Eren said, simply. “You said you had a son? I’m hoping they’re doing something for the families left behind. My friend has some family going, too, and I left my sister back there.” 

“Keep talking, kid,” the man beside him muttered. “You’re definitely putting me in the mood to die.” 

“Statistically, he’s right,” the other person said. “A quarter million people were assigned the mission. At least some percentage of them have to survive - and younger, healthier people are the most likely candidates.”

“Fuck that,” the man said. 

“Yeah, well,” the woman said, sticking her leg out, nudging Eren with it. “Stick with me, kid. If anyone makes it out, in this cart, I’ll be damned if it ain’t you.” 

“Don’t worry about me,” Eren told her. 

“Didn’t ask for your permission, kid,” she said. “Name’s Adelina, for the record.” 

“I’m Eren,” he introduced. 

“I’m Carston, if anybody needs it for my tombstone,” the man said. 

All three looked at the other person on the cart.

They blinked behind wide glass lenses. “...Micha.” 

“There we go,” Adelina said, sitting back. “One big happy fuckin’ family.”

“We could toast,” Carston said, “if they gave us anything to _fucking drink.”_

  
  
  
  
  
  


They’re taken off the wagons when they go through the gate.

“Walk to your death,” Carston muttered. 

“Horses are valuable,” Micha said. “They will hold onto anything they intend to retrieve, so that there is no need to re-open the gates and risk-..”

“We know _why,”_ Adelina said. “We’re bitching because it _sucks,_ not because we don’t get it.” 

“Are they not going to open the gate at all?” Eren asked. “What if someone lives?” 

“It’s a matter of time,” Micha said. “There is no long-term survival. There is only how long you are able to hold out before you die.”

They reached the gate. Through the small gap, over the heads of the crowd marching in, distant figures of titans could be seen.

Some people panicked. Eren’s attention was caught just ahead, as someone yanked back, stumbling to the side, shrieking. 

They caught themselves in their stumble with a crutch, and Eren’s stomach dropped out. They had to be his own age - they were chosen deliberately. 

“I can’t!” they sobbed, folding in on themselves. “I can’t-...”

The gunshot stopped everyone.

“Move!” A soldier commanded. “Through the gates, everyone!” 

Very, very slowly, numbly, the crowd began to move again. 

“Bastards,” Adelina breathed. “Didn’t think they’d show their cards like that.”

“There’s no one around,” Micha said. “Our line extends farther than the gunshot will even sound.”

“He had the right idea,” Carston said. “That’s the easier way.” 

“We aren’t dying,” Eren muttered, looking out, walking with them as they reached the gate.

Passing under the arch, there was a moment where Eren ceased being able to hear. It was just him, surrounded by bodies on all sides, making his way through the crowd, almost certain death on the other side. 

And he was...calm.

The anger that lived in him was nowhere to be found. He could not find the situation unfair, could not find fault in it. 

Instead, he felt _certain._

He would not die here.

He would survive.

He would kill every titan, one day - but for now, he would survive them.

  
  
  
  
  


They make it fairly far into the territory before Eren’s group has to really worry about the titans.

They were all over the place, but Micha’s prediction was true - there were so _many_ people to kill, plenty were able to slip between them. 

Eren’s group, made up of four relatively young and healthy people, made it a good ways before titans started really reaching for them. 

On all sides, people vanished. One second, they were surrounded by an endless sea of bodies, and the next, Eren dived to one side of a crumbled building, came around the other side, and found himself alone. 

“Shit,” he swore, looking around frantically. “Adelina! Mischa! Carston!”

“Quit yelling!” Carston hissed back, from above. Eren looked up to see him on the fire escape of a taller building, crouched with his back pressed against the brick. “They can still hear, dumbass!”

“Where are the others?” Eren asked.

“Probably dead,” Carston snapped. “Get somewhere, before-...”

The building above him erupted in a cloud of dust and shattered brick, a titan’s fist emerging where it had punched straight through. 

Eren watched it close around Carston, and was only able to pull himself away at the last second, scrambling away in blind panic. 

_He’s dead,_ Eren thought, diving in between hiding places as he weaved his way through the street. _Where are Adelina and Micha?_

“Eren!”

Eren looked up, heart leaping into his throat, and found a hand closing around his upper arm, dragging him around a corner. 

“Titans kill for fun,” Micha said, dragging him into a half-collapsed building. “Not for food. They won’t be interested in searching every single area for every single human - if we stay out of sight, they should stick with ready entertainment-...”

“Carston’s dead,” Eren breathed, throat tight. “He-....”

“...That was likely to happen,” Micha murmured. 

“Where’s Adelina?” Eren asked. 

“Unknown,” Micha said. “We have to keep moving. Going between buildings, staying off the streets - don’t catch their eye, and we can make it farther away.”

“To where?” Eren asked. “Where are we _going?”_

“A circuit,” Micha said. “We loop around, wait for the titans to follow the crowd, and return to the gate to await the military’s return.”

“You think they’ll come back?” Eren asked. 

“No,” Micha replied. “But I don’t think that we will make it to the outer wall, and we certainly won’t plug it. The only way forward is to go back.” 

Eren scowled, but nodded, turning to peer out into the street. 

“Which way?”

“Taller buildings,” Micha said, shoving their glasses back on their nose. “Less likely to be stepped on.”

Eren looked for the tallest building nearby, marking it in his mind. “Okay,” he said. “Together?”

“Unwise,” Micha said, but grabbed Eren’s wrist, taking off on the street with him pulled along. 

They made it inside the building, and held out a moment, watching in silent terror as a titan wandered past, taking off halfway down their street to run after some other spotted survivor. 

“Adelina,” Micha breathed.

Eren’s eyes widened, and he moved, hanging out the door to look.

Sure enough, the person being backed into a wall by a three meter class titan was, in fact, Adelina. 

“Adelina!” Eren cried. 

She looked his way, pure terror on her face. “Run!” she cried. 

Eren watched in horror as the titan took her distraction as an invitation, reaching down, plucking Adelina off the ground.

It didn’t even tip its head back - just shoved her straight into its mouth, like an animal. 

Eren froze, staring at the blood drops falling. 

“It…”

The titan’s head came up, and twisted, eyes fixing down the road - right on Eren.

It got to its feet, starting their way. 

“Eren!” Micha cried, as the titan approached. “It’s going to-...Go!”

Micha shoved Eren, hard, throwing him into the dirt outside the building. 

For a single, heart-stopping second, Eren thought he’d been sacrificed. 

Then, while he struggled to return to his feet, he saw the building they’d been in collapse.

 _Micha,_ Eren thought, staring, as the titan dug its hand through the newly crumble brick to seek out the prize buried within it. 

_Were they saving me?_ Eren thought, frozen. _Or themselves?_

He had no way to know.

He had no way to _ever_ know.

The titan looked up again, eyes landing on Eren once more.

He took a half-step back, but could foster no more energy. The desire to run sang in his veins, and so did something _else,_ something stronger, rising with the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears. 

He didn’t know what it was - didn’t know what it wanted him to do.

The hand closed around him. 

He struggled, kicking and hitting, clawing at the fingers that crushed him around the middle. 

_I won’t die here._

He passed between massive teeth.

_I won’t die here._

The world went dark.

  
  
  
  


Around the city, the quarter million’s few thousand survivors drew to a stop, eyes drawn to the sky, as a sharp crack of lightning flared in the center of the chaos. 

It was the last thing some of them saw. For others, though, they were able to hear the ferocious roar that pierced the air, able to see the gigantic form of the fifteen meter titan stagger out of one of the city streets. 

Everyone who saw him accepted him as the omen of the end - they were doomed, with such a massive titan. There was not even the illusion of a possibility of escape. 

And then, the titan came to a stop, standing straight in the very center of the city.

Its head tipped, eyes going to the sky, exposed jaw parting, bearing its teeth at the sky-

-...and it screamed.

Around the city, all the citizens froze - and so, too, did every titan. 

The massive titan looked around, shoulders curling forward, hunching in on itself. Eyes passing over the other titans around it, it let out another noise, an even more ferocious growl than the first. 

As one, the titans holding human snacks let go.

Humans who’d been making peace with their death hit the ground, stunned, breaking bones and bruising but very much alive.

They all watched, shocked beyond the capability of movement, as each of the titans turned, facing to the south-...

...And started walking.

Collectively, they ignored the humans. A few were stepped on in the titans’ hurry to leave, but they did not spare so much as a glance to them, all focused on some unseen goal, far away from the city. 

The titan cried out again, the sound a furious and pained call that would haunt the memories of every survivor for life. 

The titans broke into a run, tearing as far away from the area as possible. 

The massive titan moved forward, after them, but paused in mid-step, looking over its shoulder, looking around at the gathered humans.

Everyone held their breath.

The titan, with oddly intelligent eyes, looked across the swarms of people frozen in terror…

...And then turned to the south, taking off after the other titans, not sparing the people another glance. 


	2. Chapter 2

“So, who’s shitty idea was this?”

“Not mine,” Erwin said, not even looking in Levi’s direction. 

“Throwing civilians to titans?” Levi asked. “Or the even stupider fucking ‘rescue’ mission to pick up the four people who haven’t been totally eaten yet?”

“The second part  _ was  _ my idea,” Erwin said. “The military council agreed to it, as a strategic move.” 

“Strategic?” Levi echoed. “How? Just so it’s not completely obvious you wanted them to fucking die?” 

“No,” Erwin said, seemingly unbothered by the antagonism. “If anyone was able to figure out a way to evade or fight their way to safety, they’ll have useful insight.” 

“You’re throwing them in a research room?”

“Or a military squad,” Erwin added. “It depends on what their strategy was.” 

“Runners are test subjects, fighters are canon fodder,” Levi sighed. “Why’d I agree to help you?” 

Erwin didn’t answer him - they’d reached the gate, and he signalled the soldiers at it to raise it.

“One civilian per horse,” Erwin called to his troops. “Retrieve a survivor, and return to the gate to wait for it to be reopened. Do not overtax yourself, do not overtax your supplies, and  _ do not engage  _ unless absolutely necessary.”

“And forget the bodies,” Levi added, in a mutter. “If there  _ are  _ any.” 

“They should know that by now,” Erwin said, readying to lead the charge out the gate.

They didn’t get the chance. From the second the gate was even a foot off the ground, people started  _ crawling  _ through it, streaming in in larger numbers the higher the gate got.

“That’s a lot of survivors,” Levi observed. “How long have they been out there?” 

They didn’t stop. The flood seemed endless, and as soon as there was enough space for people to simply walk in, rather than drag themselves through the smaller space, it didn’t show any signs of slowing to a manageable pace.

Behind them, Levi and Erwin were both hyper-aware of the space being put in between them and their other soldiers, as most of their troops tried to get out of the way of the people streaking past, sprinting into the city to collapse into the dirt. 

“Something’s happened,” Erwin said, and took his horse’s reins a bit more firmly in hand. “Levi, get Hange.” 

“Ugh,” Levi responded immediately, but complied, steering his horse to the side and back through the crowd, seeking out their intel officer. 

Erwin, meanwhile, rode ahead, forcing the crowd to part for him to head through, looking wildly around, searching for how they’d managed to hold back the titans long enough to gather outside the gate. 

He found...nothing.

“...What the hell?”

The crowd extended far out - maybe a hundred thousand strong. Even if that was less than half of how many they’d sent out, it was still far more than they’d anticipated...and too many to be considered a successful cull for the other military leaders.

There would be another. Whatever happened to this one would be noted, and the next version would be even worse.

Erwin hated how  _ sickening  _ his position tended to end up.

Movement above the heads of the mob drew his eye, and he looked to the side to see Levi forcing his own way back out, Hange following - much slower, with regular apologies - behind him. 

“What the hell?” Levi demanded, coming to a stop beside Erwin, looking out over the city. “There’s...nothing.”

“Oh?” Hange came up beside them, grinning. “Interesting….Did they get full? Can they get full? Do they get  _ bored?”  _

“They loved the crowd when they broke through the wall,” Erwin said. “Something  _ happened  _ here.” 

Levi cast a glance around, then leaned to one side, grabbing into the crowd at random. He caught someone’s arm, yanking them aside, forcing them to stand beside him.

“Please!” the man immediately cried. “I just want to-...”

“What happened here?” Levi demanded. “Where are the titans? Were they killed?”

“No!” the man said, reaching up suddenly, gripping onto Levi’s arm tightly, eyes wide and manic. “They ran away!”

Levi blinked. “...They  _ what?”  _

“They were  _ scared?”  _ Hange exclaimed, leaning forward eagerly. “Scared of what?”

“There was another titan,” the man said. “A bigger one, with huge teeth - it growled, and they all just ran away!”

“Bullshit,” Levi said, releasing the man, who immediately took off after the rest. He looked between Hange, looking  _ ecstatic,  _ and Erwin, looking pensive. “What  _ actually  _ happened?”

“...We should find out,” Erwin said. “Something cleared this area of titans with minimal casualties - if we can find out  _ what,  _ we can turn this whole damn thing around.” 

“I’ll get my squad ready!” Hange said, pulling back on the reins of her horse, turning around and vanishing back into the crowd - significantly more willing to shove people aside on the return trip. 

“Which way are we going?” Levi asked. “We don’t know where they went.”

“We’ll scan this area, first,” Erwin said. “If we don’t find the source, we’ll head for the breach in the wall, and see how far out we can get before we run into titans again.” 

“Maybe this wasn’t a complete waste,” Levi said, and pulled back on his own reins, heading back to gather his own squad.

They’d better find something.

They couldn’t afford for this to have been a waste.

  
  
  
  
  


_ It’s warm… _

The sensation was all-consuming. A heat, from all sides, so strong it should have burned...but it didn’t. It was comfortable. It was comforting. It felt like home.

_ Home… _

Images flashed in his mind, however fleeting. Large hands, reaching out. Peering eyes. A grin with wicked teeth.

His mother’s smile. 

His mother…

His  _ mother. _

Eren felt like he’d been jolted out of good sleep, opening his eyes to the bright daylight, stretching out on all sides. 

He was up somewhere high, on top of a building maybe - well over the rooftops, staring out into the distance.

He...was  _ home.  _

The crumbled gate was right in front of him, within sight. It would be a long walk, but it was doable.

Especially with no titans in sight.

_ Am I….dreaming?  _

There was no other explanation - he couldn’t be there, not really, and he definitely couldn’t be there  _ without titans.  _

_ How do you tell if you’re dreaming? _

Fingers, right?

He looked down at his hands.

_...What?  _

They weren’t right. They were…

Well, for one, they looked  _ massive.  _ For another, they were an entirely different shape from his own, and the fingers looked like  _ talons,  _ almost.

_ I look like… _

He looked down at his body. 

_ Am I…? _

He  _ was,  _ he was certain. He’d dreamt he was a titan.

He raised his eyes back up, toward the gate.

_ The basement of my house,  _ he thought.  _ In the other dreams, dad said… _

He took a step forward. The massive body moved obediently ahead, approaching the wrecked gate. 

_ I have to get there… _

His large strides cleared the distance so quickly, even with him moving relatively slow. He sped up, rushing forward, goal clear in his mind.

_ I have to go home. _

He had to-...

“Ahead! Fifteen meter class!”

Eren stopped, turning, looking over his shoulder at the sound.

Horses - dozens of them, all bearing riders in familiar uniforms.

_ The Survey Corps.  _ Of course - if he was a titan, they’d be after him, wouldn’t they?

What a dream - his heroes hunting him. 

He tried to say something, to call to them, to yell out a  _ wait  _ or a  _ no,  _ but all that came from him was a strained, oddly pitched cry, like a wounded animal. 

The soldiers, so far below him, pulled back on their horses, splitting into an arc, moving to surround him.

_ No,  _ he thought, taking a step back. He needed to get away - he couldn’t let them attack him, but he couldn’t hurt them, either. Even if it was a dream, he wouldn’t do it. 

All around him, soldiers raised...guns?

He had a split second to be confused before they all fired. All around him, lines shot out, fierce-looking blades at their ends, almost like the 3DM gear the soldiers used. 

_ They’re…? _

Lines all sunk in, then went taut, and Eren felt himself being pulled, tugged harshly down. 

_ No.  _ He strained against them, but there were so many, he would have no chance unless he struck out at the soldiers holding them.

“Hold him tight!” a soldier cried, and shot out their 3DM gear, launching themselves into the air, coming-

-..Straight for him.

He reeled his head back, arching it up - he couldn’t let them get behind him, to the back of his neck. He couldn’t let them kill him.

He…

...Why?

Why not?

It was a dream.

The thought brought Eren up short.

If, in this world, Eren were a titan, then it was better that he died, wasn’t it?

He relaxed his body under the strings.

_ That’s right,  _ he thought.  _ I have to go home...but I can do that when I wake up. I don’t know what would be there in a dream.  _

“Oooh.”

Eren blinked, stunned, as something shot between his eyes, one of the lines sinking into his forehead. 

A second later, something smacked into his face, hanging off the hook on his forehead, peering curiously into one of his eyes.

_...Micha? _

Eren froze, staring at the figure.

It wasn’t Micha, no, but that recalled the memory - he was dead. He’d  _ died.  _ The titan had crushed Micha and eaten him.

He…

“Don’t worry,” the person on his face said. “You’re holding a lot of valuable information in there, somewhere.”

Eren held perfectly still.

_ If I’m dead...is this what happens when you die? _

“Oooh, this is fun,” the person on his face cooed, leaning back a bit. Calling down to the other soldiers, they yelled, “Look at him. He  _ is  _ scared. Amazing…”

Eren, once again, tried to speak, tried to tell them  _ anything,  _ but that pained cry was all he managed. 

“Bind him!” someone yelled. “If we can figure out what’s wrong with this one, we can learn what happened.”

_ No, _ Eren thought, eyes wide as the thought occurred to him - if he was a  _ titan,  _ they surely intended to kill him, or at least hurt him. 

He squirmed, pulling against the strings. One arm was able to move, and he looked down to see the soldiers holding the ropes drag their feet through the dirt, trying to ground themselves in place.

He had to get out. He had to-...

...Go  _ where?  _

The basement? He couldn’t even get to it. He was too large to enter his house, though the giant body would be better for moving rubble out of the way. 

Maybe… Could he lead the Survey Corps to it? They’d be able to fight, if any titans blocked the way…

...Except, the titans had fled. Eren could remember them, looking to him, hearing his cry, and turning away, running back out of the wall. 

Why had they done that? What had Eren done, on instinct, that had made them all decide to go?

Did that mean he’d retaken the wall?

...Not yet, though. He still had to…

He jerked his head loose of the strings, turning to look at the hole in the wall behind him. 

He had no way to seal it, even if he could break free of the Survey Corps - which, judging by the hissing sounds of compressed air and the sudden sensation of being yanked downward, he imagined was impossible. 

Scouts launched themselves into the air around him using 3DM gear, and began to circle, firing off their weird rope guns as they did, binding him tight. The soldiers holding to his arm regained their grips, now that he was not actively fighting them, and were forcibly dragging his arm back down to his side to be bound as well. 

Panicking, he leaned hard in the opposite direction, attempting to break out of the ropes, or convince the soldiers to let them go. He didn’t want to hurt them, but-...

There was a flash in his vision, and a second later, rising steam.

He stared in open horror as he watched, as though in slow motion, his severed arm hit the ground.

Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt. He barely felt it at all, actually - he could feel  _ an  _ arm, at his side, but it felt like the skin was being pulled on. He imagined that was probably it trying to regrow - which it would, he realized, because he was a  _ titan.  _

_ But I can think.  _ Eren stared down at the lost limb as it slowly melted to steam.  _ Titans can’t...can they? _

Something  _ thunked  _ against his mutilated shoulder, and Eren tried to look, having to look uncomfortably down his nose to get a glimpse of his new passenger. 

A short, black-haired man watched him with narrowed eyes. “It’s weak for its size,” he said.

Eren didn’t follow, for a second, until the other person replied, “He’s not weak - he isn’t fighting.” 

“He yanked the ropes,” the man said. “That’s fucking fighting, Hange.”

“No, Levi,” Hange said. “His arm’s been free for over a minute - he never reached for a human. He was looking over his shoulder - I think he’s just trying to get away.” 

“Why would it run?” Levi watched him, skeptically. 

“Why did the others?” Hange asked. “I think he’s scared of something.”

Eren looked back up, eyes fixing on the person perched on his cheek, even harder to focus on than Levi. 

“See?” Hange asked, eyeing him with wild enthusiasm. “He’s terrified.” 

They weren’t necessarily wrong - Eren had no idea what was going on, and that scared the shit out of him. 

But he had to get free, and he had to get to the wall, and-...

...And  _ what?  _

He had no idea.

_ They’re going to kill me,  _ Eren thought, blood running cold.  _ We’re so close to retaking the wall, but they’re going to-.... _

He couldn’t let that happen. 

Mind made up, he steeled his resolve.  _ I won’t kill them,  _ he told himself.  _ But if they have to be hurt-... _

He’d do his best.

In one fluid motion, he  _ yanked  _ his remaining arm, hard as he could, against the ropes. The soldiers scrambled to counter his movement, but he was  _ massive  _ in his titan body, and they could do little against the sheer force of it. Two ropes broke, and the rest started to drag the soldiers off the ground as he raised his arm, prompting most of them to release their tools entirely.

He heard the press of 3DM gear, and his heart raced. They would kill him if he did anything else, but he had to-...he  _ had to-... _

The flash came again, and his other arm severed at almost exactly the same point, within a blink. 

Something  _ tapped  _ against the back of his neck, and he tipped his head quickly backward, hoping to dislodge it, letting out an involuntary cry as he did. 

“Levi, no!” Hange cried. 

It was too late.

The sensation of the blades entering his neck was layered - at first, he felt it distantly, the same way he’d felt his arms, but as the blades neared the center, it turned to genuine pain-...

...And then  _ agony,  _ feeling like he was finally processing the full extent of the damage, except it wasn’t just his arms. His legs turned to firey pain, as well, and he  _ screamed,  _ hearing the titan roar echo off the rooftops.

Heat rose up, steam from the body emitting, and under its pressure, Eren blacked out. 

  
  
  
  


“Levi!” Hange cried, somewhere between grieved and furious. “He was important!”

“We can’t haul a fiften meter titan,” Levi said. “And it was going to-....”

He stopped abruptly. 

Hange caught this immediately. “What?” they asked. “What’s wrong? Is something different?”

“There’s a fucking body here.”

Hange blinked, straightening up. “A what?”

There was movement, out of their sight, and then Levi was slinging around, dropping to the ground with a  _ body  _ over his shoulder. 

Hange followed him down, coming up quickly to examine it. 

It was a teenager, by the looks of him, missing both his arms and legs. He was  _ soaked  _ in blood, and some of it was emitting steam, rising up in clouds off Levi’s shoulder.

Levi threw him forward, onto one of the carts, and looked in disgust at where the body had been pressed against him. “Filthy,” he muttered. 

“A human,” Hange said, and moved around him, climbing into the cart to kneel beside the boy. Curious, they reached out, ready to take a pulse, only to quickly yank their hand back, the blood steaming on his skin like molten lava. 

“He’s covered in titan blood,” Hange observed. 

“No shit,” Levi said, moving to rip his cloak off, tossing it down beside the teen in the cart. It wasn’t steaming as much, but if it was even a fraction as hot as the boy’s skin, Hange didn’t blame him for wanting it off. 

Though, knowing him, it was probably more about finding it disgusting. 

“It’s not burning him,” they said, looking closer. The boy’s skin had marks on it, harsh pink scar-like lines, but no  _ burns,  _ despite being soaked in something boiling hot. 

As they watched, under the steam, the blood started to evaporate, leaving behind a better picture of what the kid looked like. 

“Erwin,” Levi called. “Come look.”

Erwin dismounted his horse, coming around the cart to examine their capture. “He was in the titan’s  _ neck?”  _

“Yeah,” Levi said. “He was all tangled up in the muscle.” He looked to Hange. “You said this titan wasn’t fighting. Does that have anything to do with this kid?”

“They were  _ in  _ the titan’s neck,” Hange murmured, watching him, fascinated. “I wonder...Could he have been  _ controlling  _ it?” 

Levi straightened up sharply. _ “Controlling  _ a titan?” 

“They clearly keep their most important nerves in their necks,” Hange said. “I wonder if someone found a way...But, that doesn’t explain how he’s unharmed.”

Levi blinked at them. 

“By the titan, I mean,” Hange clarified. “The blood isn’t burning him at all.” 

“You think  _ he  _ is some kind of titan?”

“I,” Hange said, enthusiastically, “have no idea.”

Levi snorted. “Find out, then, four-eyes.  _ Something  _ happened to the titans here.”

“We’ll take him back,” Erwin said. “Let the blood burn off and then bind him,  _ tight,  _ just to be safe. We’ll see what we can get out of him to explain this mess.”

“Right,” Hange said, watching eagerly. “As soon as the steam-....stops…”

Levi looked to them, eyebrows knitting together. “What now?”

Hange quietly gestured to the teen.

Levi and Erwin both stopped and looked, eyes going wide as they saw what Hange was referring to.

Under the steam at the stumps of the boy’s limbs, flesh was steadily expanding, the severed parts regenerating, just like a titan’s. 

“Bind him,” Erwin repeated, more firmly. “We’ll get him into the city, and underground. Whatever he is, we need to know everything.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a couple different people asked about fritz's influence on eren, given his royal blood, and thats all gonna come into the plot eventually, but i bumped up one scene in the outline to kind of hint at it for now

Eren woke slowly, his body feeling heavy, a fog over his mind. 

Above him, there was a beautiful sky. Streams of light weaved across it, like hundreds of shooting stars. 

Around him, there was the comforting sound of shifting sand. 

_ Am I on a beach?  _ he wondered.  _ Did we make it to the sea? _

How had they gotten past-

Eren tried to sit up, abruptly, panic rising in him as he remembered the circumstances under which he’d fallen unconscious. Instead, though, none of his limbs responded, his legs feeling pinned down, his arm lighting up with pain and somehow only proping him up an inch. 

He looked to it, confused, and stared in horror at the severed stump of it.

A hand landed against his chest, shoving him backward, pinning him back against the ground. Alarmed, he looked to the source of it, blinking in surprise at the sight before him.

There was a little girl. 

She looked maybe ten, skinny and exhausted, and the hand she didn’t have holding Eren down was on mounds of sand that covered Eren’s legs. 

Or, he supposed, what was left of them.

“Who are you?” Eren asked, straining his neck to be able to look at her without rising off the floor. “What are you doing?”

The girl gave another harsh press against his chest, which Eren interpreted as an order to  _ stay,  _ before releasing him, turning her full attention to sculpting the sand. 

The further away from Eren the sand got, the less form it took, but the space right under the flesh sections was in the distinct shape of an actual leg, somehow even sticking to itself on the sides that were suspended in air. 

_ Is she….remaking them?  _

He looked up at the glittering sky again, then to the side, where a massive column of light sat, branching off at the top and bottom like a giant tree. 

“Where am I?” Eren asked, looking at the girl. 

“The Coordinate.”

It was not the girl who answered - instead, the girl  _ froze  _ when the voice spoke up, her hands hovering a hair’s breadth above the sand, eyes fixed downward and distant. 

Taking that as a sign to be cautious, he looked in the direction of the speaker. 

A few paces away, close enough to the pillar of light that Eren had to squint to look at them, there was the outline of another figure. 

“What’s the Coordinate?” Eren asked. “And who are you?” 

“I,” the person said, stepping forward, close enough that his silhouette blocked most of the light, and Eren was able to see his face, that of an old man with a large beard and eyes almost as tired as the girl’s. “Am Karl Fritz.”

He said it with meaning, and Eren frowned in response. “Am I supposed to know you?”

The man’s chin tipped up, and he looked down his nose at Eren, something hollow in his gaze. “You should,” he said. “But you won’t. Your heritage was kept from you, by the thief.” 

“Thief?” Eren echoed. Then, sticking at a different point, he asked, “What heritage?” 

“You are a Fritz,” Fritz told him. “You have royal blood, and as such, true claim to the Founding Titan.”

Eren’s eyebrows knitted together. “Royal blood?” He shook his head. “My parents were normal. Grisha and Carla Yeager.” 

“Carla Yeager was  _ not  _ your mother,” Fritz said, almost venemous. “Your mother was Dina Fritz, a royal living in secret within Marley.” 

Eren let out a harsh, irate breath. “You’re not making any sense,” he said. “I’ve never heard of that woman, and I think I’d know my own mom. And what is  _ Marley?”  _

“You know  _ nothing,”  _ Fritz said, and stepped closer, approaching Eren’s side-

-Only to stop, abruptly, as the little girl moved, getting to her feet and jumping into his way, hands out to warn him back. 

“...Move,” Fritz said. “He has the Founding Titan, now. He is responsible for maintaining peace.” 

The little girl’s head dipped forward, hair falling in her face, and she looked shaky where she stood. 

Still, though, she did not move aside. 

“Who are you?” Eren asked, again. 

“She is Ymir,” Fritz said. “The true Founding Titan. The first to obtain the power.” 

Eren’s eyes widened, looking at the girl. “You mean...she’s a titan?” 

Like he was?

“She was the original titan,” Fritz confirmed. “And she serves the royal family.”

She hunched further in on herself. 

“Her power was claimed by the original king,” Fritz said. “And passed on along the royal bloodline, until  _ your father  _ stole it, taking it to you, in the hopes that by breaking the line of direct succession, he would in turn break my access to you.” 

“I don’t understand,” Eren said. “My father-...My  _ father  _ was a titan?” 

“Briefly,” Fritz confirmed. “There are Nine Titans,  _ true  _ titans, in the world. Your father took two of their powers for himself - the Attack Titan, and the Founding Titan. You now possess both.” He looked down at the little girl, Ymir. “When she stands aside, I may show you.”

Eren tried to sit up again, only for the little girl to look back, eyes panicked as they locked on his. 

She didn’t want Fritz near him. 

Why not?

If the man was offering to explain to him- to tell him what he was on about, regarding his family, and the truth of titans - he wanted to know. 

She, however, very clearly did not think that was a good idea.

_ In the hopes he would break my access to you,  _ Fritz had said. Grisha hadn’t wanted this man to reach Eren, either.

Whatever information he held, though…

The image of a key, dangling on a thread, flashed in his mind.

No. Whatever information this man held, Eren would find plenty if he reached his father’s basement. He didn’t need whatever Fritz offered, that Grisha and Ymir were both struggling to protect him from. 

“...I don’t want anything from you,” he said.

The girl’s face looked temporarily brightened, a relief flooding her expression, before it turned hard and determined again, and she looked back, this time meeting Fritz’s eyes firmly. 

“The vow is integral to the bloodline,” Fritz said. “It is your job to pass it on.”

Beside Eren, the girl’s foot shifted, as though preparing to move back, but she otherwise did not falter.

“Peace is at stake!” Fritz shouted, annoyance escalating to anger. “Yeager would have unleashed the titans on Marley! You trust his son to be any better?” 

_ Unleashed the titans?  _

“I want to  _ kill  _ the titans,” Eren snapped. “Every last one of them.” 

Fritz looked to him, icy. “Yourself included?”

Eren tipped his chin up, unafraid. “If it comes to it.”

“And for what goal?” Fritz asked. “You want to create peace within the walls? A paradise for our people?”

“I want to go  _ outside  _ the walls,” Eren said. “I want humanity not to have to be penned in like cattle.”

“Being penned in is what keeps them  _ alive,”  _ Fritz said. 

“Not if the titans are gone,” Eren said.

“You idiot,” Fritz growled. “I’m trying to tell you - the titans are what  _ protect  _ our walls.”

Eren froze. “...What?”

“There are enemies beyond our borders, ones you don’t know about,” Fritz said. “The titans keep us inside, yes, but they keep  _ them  _ out, and that is their purpose.” 

“But the wall  _ fell!”  _ Eren shouted. “If you’re saying - if you claim there’s something  _ worse  _ than the titans, then we need to be prepared! We have to  _ fight,  _ or we’re just going to die! All that we are right now are just animals waiting for slaughter. At any moment, the Colossal Titan could return, and knock down the rest of our walls, and then humanity will be extinct.” 

“Humanity,” Fritz breathed, almost a laugh.  _ “Humanity, _ indeed. True extinction of the human race isn’t our land falling, Eren. True extinction is what  _ you  _ would unleash, if you are allowed to return with your power unchecked.” 

“I wouldn’t,” Eren said. “I want to save humanity, not destroy it.” 

Fritz tipped his chin back up. “You want to protect them?”

“With everything I have,” Eren confirmed. 

“Then leave the walls where they stand,” Fritz said. “Our enemies are pushing to threaten our safety, and perhaps the time has come to push a bit further, to create a better home. But whatever you do, whatever choices you make - the walls  _ must  _ remain.”

“If we leave them, what’s the point?” Eren asked.

“You did not want my answers,” Fritz said, and turned, walking off toward the pillar of light. 

“Hey, w-...”

A hand smacked over his mouth, Ymir dropping down at his side, suddenly, shaking her head. 

Eren waited, watching as Fritz stepped into the column, then vanished. The second he was gone, Ymir released him.

“What was he talking about?” Eren asked.

Ymir shook her head, then lowered her hand, setting it against Eren’s chest.

He noticed, then, that his clothes had not followed him into this strange place - he was naked under a thick layer of sand. He knew, however, what she was referring to - only one thing sat there against his heart, and he never removed it. 

“The basement,” he said. “The answers are there?”

Ymir nodded.

“Right,” Eren said, firmly, mind made up. “Then I have to go there. As soon as possible.”

She nodded, then moved back a bit, returning to scooping up sand, this time starting to shape it around his arm. 

“Are you...rebuilding me?” Eren asked.

She nodded, patting sand down firmly, not looking away from her own hands. 

“That’s how titans regenerate?” Eren asked. Then, a horrified thought occuring to him, he asked, “Do  _ you  _ rebuild them?”

Without any hesitation or sense of shame shown, the girl nodded again.

Eren scowled. “That regeneration is what makes them so hard to kill,” Eren snapped. “It’s because they regenerate that so many people die fighting them. You  _ doom  _ people.”

She looked up, eyes blank, and shook her head. Then, very deliberately, she reached out, tapping a single finger against his chest. 

“What?” Eren asked. “I don’t-...”

Images hit him hard, suddenly lost in a dream. A sea of bodies, all vague and mangled, sprawled out on an endless black expanse. Hands moving, sculpting sand, piecing back together body after body, not even glancing at the faces.

His hands moved into view, tiny and delicate, a heavy iron shackle clasped around one wrist. 

Eren blinked, the images fading away, leaving him staring at the girl again. 

“You’re a slave,” he realized. “You don’t have a choice.”

She looked at him, expression hollow, and reached up, passing a hand over his face, sleep taking him again like sinking under a wave. 

  
  
  
  
  


He jolted awake in bed, his body aching, but feeling a lot more solid than the floaty sensation of the Coordinate. 

He tried to sit up, relieved to find that he could, four fully formed and functional limbs moving to prop him upright on the stiff bed he was on.

Rattling metal sounded, and he looked to his wrist, taking in the heavy metal chains locked around them. 

Having just seen similar ones on someone else, they felt sort of like a cosmic joke. 

A glance around the room showed he was not  _ just  _ chained by the wrist, though: there were irons around his ankles, as well, and he was in a cell besides, three blank stone walls and one set of thick metal bars. 

_ What’s going on? _

Outside the cell, his gaze stopped on the sight of three sets of eyes, all fixed on him. One set, enthusiastic, another, suspicious, and the last, entirely unreadable. 

Hange, Levi, and the commander, whose name Eren didn’t actually know. 

“Hmmm,” Hange hummed, taking a step closer, peering between the bars. “You don’t look very scared anymore.” 

“How did I get here?” he asked. “What happened to me?”

Behind Hange, Levi tipped his head. “You don’t remember?”

“I…”

He  _ could  _ remember, vaguely, what had happened before he’d blacked out, but after the exchange with Fritz and Ymir, it was distant, feeling like something that happened ages ago.

Also, it explained nothing to him, because he didn’t remember being with them as a person - as far as he’d known, he was dead. 

...Again. 

Fritz had implied otherwise, though. He’d spoken like this was something that could happen often, something that Eren should expect, that was expected  _ of  _ him in turn. 

“He remembers,” the other man said, watching him with an entirely neutral face, nothing showing what sort of opinion he had on the situation. “You know what happened. I can see it on your face. Tell me,” he leaned forward a bit, hard eyes on Eren. “How did you control the titan?” 

Eren blinked. “I…” He shook his head. “I don’t know.” 

“Bullshit,” Levi said. “You didn’t just plant yourself in the thing’s neck by accident.”

“I did,” Eren said, quickly, only to backtrack immediately, given that wasn’t  _ quite  _ true. “All I remember - I was sent out with the party to reclaim the walls, and...a titan got me. I saw its jaw shut, and then...Then, I was at the wall. I don’t remember much in between.” 

“Much,” Hange echoed. “So you remember  _ some?” _

“Just one thing,” Eren said. “When I became a titan, I...I had this instinct. I yelled out, and all the titans looked at me, and then just...started walking.” He shook his head, looking to the commander, desperate to be believed. “They followed me away. I don’t know why.” 

The commander hummed, sitting back in his seat, watching Eren appraisingly. 

“Well?” Levi asked.

“I believe him,” the commander said, getting to his feet. He sat a hand against his own chest - not a salute, just a gesture. “I am Erwin Smith, commander of the Survey Corps. This is Captain Levi, and Section Commander Hange.” He stepped forward, up to the bars. “Hange is a research officer, as well as a commander. They will be in charge of determining what happened, and how to imitate it.” 

“I-..!” Eren hopped to his feet, stepping forward, until the chain pulled on him. “My father, he knew about it,” he said. He reached up, into his shirt, digging out the key, which he held up to show them. “Whatever I am, whatever the titans are - there’s something in the basement, of my old house, back in Shinanshiga. Something that explains this. Explains everything.”

Levi raised an eyebrow, face impassive. “You don’t know how you became a titan, but you remember where you can find perfect answers to every question we could possibly asked, if we just happen to let you out?” 

Eren flushed. “I-I know I sound crazy,” he started to say, but Hange cut in abruptly, sticking their face into his cell, hands gripping the bars on either side, eyes wide and focused. 

“You can become a titan,” Hange said. “Even if your ‘basement’ is a lie, that’s the most fascinating information on titans we’ve ever gathered.” They pulled away, twisting around to look at Erwin. “Let me get a look at him. It’d be better if I had a little one, to test his control on, but we’ll make do. I’ll find out if we can trust him.”

“We don’t have time,” Levi said. “Maria is clear, right now. If he  _ can’t  _ act again, we’re on a tight schedule, if we want the wall to be reclaimable. Send us out - if he so much as twitches, I can cut him loose again. Or go more permanently, if I need to.”

Eren winced, the memory of the sharp pain of quadruple amputations making all his joints ache. 

Erwin watched Eren, face still impassive, before stepping up to his bars again, folding his arms and meeting his gaze head-on. 

“What is your name?”

“Eren Yeager,” he answered, immediately. 

“How old are you, Eren?”

“Fifteen,” he said. “But, um, my birthday is-...”

“You’re fifteen,” Levi cut in, abruptly. “Nobody gives a shit for how long. That’s old enough, right, Erwin?”

Erwin hummed in response, waiting for Eren to look back at him, before telling him, “A hundred thousand citizens survived the raid on the wall. That’s more than we can handle - or original plan was to enlist any survivors in the military, defending the walls, once they had experience against titans. So far, though, the only survivor we know  _ fought  _ and lived...is you.”

Eren’s eyes widened. “I-..” He stepped closer, the chains clinking as he pulled them to their full extension, straining against them. “I was going to enlist, sir.”

“When?” Levi asked. “You can go in at twelve. Saying you would have in theory is nothing if you were to chickenshit to do it.” 

“I..!” Eren shook his head. “No, sir- I wanted to join the Survey Corps!”

He looked to Erwin, whose face was unreadable. 

“I couldn’t enlist, because I have a sister, and a friend,” Eren said. “And they’re both only ten. I couldn’t leave them behind, knowing I’d probably die.”

“Then the military made the call for you,” Erwin said. 

Eren nodded. “I-...I don’t know if they know I’m alive. I know I can’t protect them by staying with them, now, though. Whatever I am, whatever I did...The safest they’ll be is if I can help. If I can reclaim the wall, and get back to my house, into that basement.” 

Erwin hummed again, then turned, looking over at Levi. “You’re willing to take responsibility for him?” 

“He’s just a brat,” Levi said, gesturing dismissively at Eren. “And a shitty titan. I’ve got him.” 

Erwin looked to Hange, then. “And you? Will you commit to a field study?”

Hange let out a slightly inhuman noise, that might have passed for a laugh, had it not been paired with an eager, hungry look, giving them the appearance of a titan themselves, approaching their next victim. “I’ll learn everything there is to know about him.”

Erwin looked back. “Do you know how you turned into a titan?” he asked. “Or, not that. Instead- Can you do it again?”

Eren had no idea how his ability worked, or if it was a one-time thing, but-...

...But if it was all or nothing, he had to make the call, and the information in that basement was worth more than his life, if it came to that. 

“I will,” he said.

He would - he didn’t know how, but he  _ would.  _


End file.
